Welsh Journals

YSTRADMEURIG CASTLED THE castle at Henblas, Ystradmeurig, owes its existence to the first attempt of the Normans to settle in Ceredigion after the Norman Conquest of 1066. The castle occupied an important strategic position overlooking the junction of two important routes into North Ceredigion; the first, the ancient road' from Powys through Rhay- ader crossing the watershed between the Teifi and Wye Valleys near the Teifi lakes, and running south through the villages of Ffairhos and Pontrhydfendigaid the second, the route from the Marches at Hereford passing through Abergwesin and Pontrhydfendigaid to Llanbadarn. These two routes cross each other just below the Pontrhydfendigaid Council School, the first running south and the second running west. All the first castles built by the Normans in Ceredigion, except perhaps Cardigan, were of the motte and bailey type. These castles, common enough on the continent of Europe, were unknown in England until the latter end of Edward the Confessor's reign. His Hereford tenants were continually complaining of Welsh raids, and the King built a castle of this type in Hereford called Richard's Castle to counteract these attacks. It was found to be so efficient that others were soon built there. The strategy at the base of these castles was applied by the Conquer- or with conspicuous success in his invasion of England. Every district subdued was given to one of his relatives or retainers with instructions to the grantee to build a motte and bailey castle to hold down the natives. As soon as built it was occupied by a permanent garrison, and settlers were imported into the district to cultivate the land in the vicinity. These settlers were mostly Normans and Anglo-Saxons. This plan was so successful that William, Duke of Normandy, sub- jugated the whole of south-east England in ten weeks, and was crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day 1066. The motte and bailey type of castle, according to Sir Charles Oman, the Oxford historian, consisted of a raised mound of earth, natural or artificial, the crest of which was surrounded by an elaborate earthen rampart, on top of which was a palisade of stout layers of earth, heavy stones, and thick sections of tree trunks placed athwart its course. xAn address given at Ystradmeurig, 26 June 1948.